


Argent

by chidorinnn



Category: K (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-01
Updated: 2015-12-01
Packaged: 2018-05-04 08:05:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5326799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chidorinnn/pseuds/chidorinnn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>a suspected murderer walks into Mihashira Tower, followed by a dead King's former vassal and a normal high school girl turned Strain</p>
<p>in which nothing is as it should be, and Gold King Daikaku Kokujouji is forced to pick up the pieces</p>
            </blockquote>





	Argent

The Gold King looks very old.

Kaya can't say what she was expecting when the name "Daikaku Kokujouji" suddenly popped into her head. A young man, perhaps? Or maybe someone a bit older – old enough for wrinkles to form around his eyes and mouth and not look out of place.

But the man before her – Daikaku Kokujouji – is none of that. His hair is long and white, and there's no spark of recognition when she finally meets him – there's nothing but her and her own increasing frustration with the situation.

"Now," says the Gold King, clasping his hands together gently on the table before him. "It's not every day a young girl such as yourself requests a personal audience with the Gold King." Kaya glares down at the table. Two plates with rice balls and pickle slices sit atop it. As if on cue, her stomach growls, and she digs her nails into the palms of her hands. The Gold King gestures toward the plates. "Help yourself."

Hesitantly, she takes a rice ball first and nibbles into it. This taste, this texture, at least, is something familiar – something that won't shift and change with her memories. "I wasn't trying to meet the Gold King," she says almost petulantly. "I just… needed to talk to a lieutenant named Daikaku Kokujouji."

He takes one of the pickle slices and frowns at it. "A lieutenant, you say…?" He bites into the slice delicately. "So," he says between bites, "tell me about yourself."

"There's not much to tell," Kaya says quietly.

"Then start with your name."

"It doesn't matter. It's not really mine."

The old man before her narrows his eyes. "You must answer to  _something_."

Kaya turns away. A lump forms at the back of her throat and she can feel the beginnings of tears stinging her eyes, but she clings to her composure because it's all she has left. "Shimizu," she says quietly. "Kaya Shimizu."

The Gold King nods, finishing the rest of his pickle slice and clasping his hands together before him once more. "Well, Miss Shimizu," he says briskly, "you said you wished to talk with me. So talk." His expression softens ever so slightly. "I, for one, am having a hard time believing that you are the same woman who murdered Mr. Totsuka Tatara earlier."

"That wasn't me!" Kaya shouts before she can stop herself. "I mean… maybe. I hope…" She sighs harshly. "I can't remember anything, and I don't know why. 'Kaya Shimizu' isn't even my real name. I… I have a brother. I think. Maybe. I don't know. I don't know anything." She manages to clamp her mouth shut before she can ramble further.

The Gold King tilts his head to the side. "Start at the beginning," he says. "You say you can't remember your past – then what is your earliest memory?"

She clenches her fists and glares at the rice balls and pickle slices on the table.

* * *

It started with Kukuri. It always starts with the most unexpected people, Kaya thinks, and this was something so unexpected that not even that Slate all the Kings swear by could have predicted it.

It started with Kukuri – Kukuri hauling her out of the ocean and thumping on her back as Kaya coughed and spluttered helplessly, the salt water making her nose and her throat burn. There'd been no time to think then – no time to wonder how she ended up in that ocean, why she almost drowned even when she knew how to swim, why everything felt different and wrong. Everything that ran through her head then had something to do with the salt water in her lungs and the thumping on her back to get it out. "Oh my god, are you okay?" Kukuri shouted.

But before Kaya could answer, someone called Kukuri's name from far away. Kukuri groaned as she rested her hand on Kaya's back, looking behind her as she did so. "Not now…"

A boy jogged toward them, waving his arm in the air. "Yukizome-san!" he shouted. "I'm sorry about…" He trailed off when he saw Kaya crumpled next to Kukuri on the ground, shivering and trying to breathe again. "Yukizome-san…?"

"Oh!" Kukuri gasped then. "This is…" She looked to the ocean at the side. "Mizu… mizu… Shimizu. Shimizu…" Then she looked up at the clouds swirling above, from what Kaya would later learn were fireworks. "Hana… Ka… Kaya! Kaya. Kaya Shimizu."

"What?" the boy mumbled, tilting his head to the side and frowning.

Boldly, Kukuri gestured down toward Kaya and looked directly into the boy's eyes. "This is my cousin Kaya. She's from the countryside, and she just transferred here."

In an instant, all confusion was gone from the boy's expression. "Oh, that's right. You mentioned that before, didn't you?"

Kukuri exhaled sharply and nodded. "Y-Yeah, I did."

The boy waved at Kaya, grinning. "It's so nice to finally meet you, Shimizu-san!"

"Ah…" Kaya looked from the boy, to Kukuri, then back to the boy.

"She's a little out of it," Kukuri said quickly, flinging her arm around Kaya's shoulders. "She just… fell. Can you give us a minute, Mishina-kun?"

The boy's face flushed bright scarlet, and he nodded vigorously. "Y-Yeah, of course! T-Take your time, Yukizome-san…" He didn't jog away so much as sprint, and Kaya couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped her then.

Kukuri sighed in relief. "I thought he'd never leave…" she grumbled. "Sorry about that." Kaya shook her head. "I have to head back soon…" Kukuri sighed. "Okay, fine. We'll just have to stick with that story." She put both her hands on Kaya's shoulders and looked directly into her eyes. "Your name is Kaya Shimizu. You're my cousin from the countryside. You've always wanted to come to the city, and your parents finally let you transfer here. You're my age – a second year. Got it?"

And then, everything clicked into place. Through the haze in her mind, two parents materialized, and a little brother. An address. A home. A school. Some phone numbers. Friends.

"Got it," Kaya said with a firm nod.

Kukuri moved past Kaya and looked into the water from where she dragged her just a few minutes ago. Then she slapped her cheeks with both her hands and frowned at her reflection in the ocean. "She's Kaya Shimizu," she said to herself. "Your cousin from the countryside. She just transferred here. Aunty and Uncle want you to take care of her because she's in your year and it's the first time she's come to the city."

When Kukuri turned around, there was no longer any confusion in her eyes. She smiled cheerfully and extended her hand. "Come on, Kaya," she said. "Let's get you dry."

* * *

"And you believed her," the Gold King deadpans, narrowing his eyes into slits as he frowns disapprovingly at her.

"It's not like I had a choice!" Kaya snaps. "It's just that… it sounded  _right_ , I guess. It made sense." There is no cousin from the countryside named Kaya, she reminds herself. Her eyes start to sting again, and she has to bury her face in her hands for a moment to regain her composure. "Too much sense…"

He clears his throat. "From what I hear, this is her ability."

"Mmhm," she replies glumly. "Those guys in the blue jackets called her a 'Strain.'"

"An undocumented one."

"I guess?"

The Gold King leans back in his chair and rests his hand under his chin. "It's rare for a Strain's abilities to go unnoticed for so long. That is, unless she developed her powers only recently." He fixes her with the same disapproving frown as before. "Perhaps in reaction to some… earth-shattering event." He exhales slowly. "What I find odd is that she seemed to believe her own deception. Though you  _did_  mention that she spoke to her own reflection, and a Strain's power tends to be… unpredictable when untamed."

Kaya crosses her arms over her chest and glares downward. The rational voice at the front of her mind, telling her to remain calm and not rise to his accusations, grows weaker by the minute. "The Slate has something to do with it, right?" she asks quietly.

He gives her the tiniest of smiles. "Yes, it does. You learn quickly."

She shrugs. "It's not like I have a choice." She doesn't mention that even with all of this information about Kings and Clans and the Slate, it doesn't really feel like she's learned anything new.

"So she chose the name 'Shimizu' from the ocean in which you landed, and then Kaya from another reading of the word for fireworks—"

"Yes, she totally made it up on the spot," Kaya snaps. It's more of a struggle to keep her voice from shaking than she'd like to admit. "And I don't know what my real name is, so it's not like I can just ditch this fake one. Can we move on now?"

The Gold King's eyes soften ever so slightly. "Tell me about your other companion," he says more gently. "The former Colorless King's vassal."

Kaya almost groans, and struggles to keep the anger and irritation out of her tone.

* * *

Kukuri asked her to buy fireworks.

It was hard to say no to Kukuri – just thinking about it made Kaya's stomach twist uncomfortably into knots.

(Later, she would learn that there was a very legitimate reason for why it was impossible to go against what Kukuri said, or at least without significant difficulty.)

Kaya went to the same convenience store where Kukuri brought her to fully stock up her new apartment. There were convenience stores like this all over the city – Kukuri had said that Kaya's hometown only had two. It was nice, Kaya thought, to not have to travel very far to reach such a store.

Kukuri had said that it would take some time for Kaya's PDA to come in, so there was no way for Kaya to tell her right then and there that the job was complete. Slowly, she made her way back to the school, holding her shopping bag tightly with both hands.

Later, she would tell herself that she should have been more careful, more aware of her surroundings. Before she could realize that something was amiss, she crashed to the ground, the shopping bag falling out of her hands and the fireworks splaying out. Someone had run into her, she surmised as she quickly stuffed the fireworks back into the bag. Someone in a rush, who swept by her so quickly and forcefully that the impact made her fall.

But as she tried to stand up, something hit her from the back. Distantly, she wondered if Kukuri's previous statement, that the students at Ashinaka High were nice and wouldn't bully her because she was from the countryside, was actually true.

But the boy who entered her view just a few seconds later didn't wear the school uniform. He skidded to a halt on his skateboard just a few meters in front of her, glaring at her contemptuously as if she'd deliberately done something to insult him. "Found you," he spat at her.

Kaya could honestly say, without a doubt, that she had never seen this boy before in her life. "What?"

The boy didn't say anything – instead, he charged at her again, and it was all Kaya could do to scramble away from his literally flaming skateboard. She ran, not bothering to keep track of where she was going.

"Yata-san!"

Two men on a motorbike blocked her path, waving at the boy on the flaming skateboard that approached her too quickly.

"Get her, Kamamoto!" yelled the boy Yata. "Don't go easy on her, even though she's a girl!"

"Wasn't going to!" replied the man Kamamoto.

Yata sprung into the air as flames swirled around Kamamoto and the man sitting behind him on the motorbike. With a shriek, Kaya ducked into the alley to her right. Kamamoto looked too old to be a student, and Yata certainly didn't look like the type of person who could sit for hours each day in school. Maybe they had something against Kukuri, and they were simply targeting Kaya by proxy. Kukuri was certainly popular enough to attract different kinds of attention, after all.

A little ways in front, a blond man leaned against the wall, smoking a cigarette and looking downward. "Excuse me!" Kaya shrieked as she moved to the left so that she could move past him without running into him.

The man looked up and gave her a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. He exhaled smoke and flicked his cigarette into the air. Red sparks materialized around it, too large and too bright to be entirely natural.

_Move!_  Kaya mentally chided herself, but she remained rooted on the spot. She could only stare as the sparks zoomed toward her, growing larger and brighter and hotter as they came closer and closer.

"Yeah!" Yata cheered from somewhere behind her. "We got her!"

Kaya squeezed her eyes shut and braced herself for the pain. But nothing came – instead, there was a gust of wind too strong to be natural and the sound of something landing in front of her. "My, my," said a smooth, velvety voice. "To see you brutes gang up against a poor, defenseless little girl…"

"Stay out of this!" Yata shouted.

"Violet Wolf Yukari Mishakuji, is it?" said another man's voice that Kaya didn't recognize. "Stay out of this."

Kaya cracked her eyes open. In front of her was a purple-haired man in a black coat, smiling almost condescendingly at the man who had been smoking the cigarette before. "With pleasure!" he said. The man Yukari bowed gracefully, yet dramatically. "Gentlemen."

Without warning, he wrapped one arm around Kaya's waist and pulled her against him. Within seconds, they were airborne, leaving Yata shouting profanities and the blond man frowning in irritation as he lit another cigarette and blew a cloud of smoke into the air. It was hard to breathe with Yukari's arm so tightly wrapped around her, and Kaya found herself grabbing his coat, clinging to him so that she wouldn't fall.

They landed on a rooftop a few seconds later, and Yukari gently let her down. Kaya sank to her knees, suddenly exhausted, and the shopping bag fell from her hands once more. To the side, a news anchor spoke on a large screen about the weather. "Thank you," she gasped as she struggle to catch her breath. "Yukari-san, is it?"

Yukari chuckled, a surprisingly melodious sound. "Oh, you shouldn't be thanking me yet, little girl."

Unable to help herself, she scowled. "My name is not 'little girl,'" she snapped. "It's Kaya. Kaya Shimizu."

And then, there was a screeching noise as the image on the monitor suddenly shifted. Kaya stared up, mystified, at the video that now played on the screen, clearly not part of the scheduled programming. There was a schoolgirl overlooking the city, with the same uniform and white sweater and pale wavy hair as hers, humming some symphony idly to herself.

(Not a symphony, she'd later remember, but a concerto – the first movement of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1.)

"Hello!" said a man's cheerful voice on the monitor. "Nice night, isn't it?" The girl didn't acknowledge his presence, continuing to sing to herself. "I'm Totsuka Tatara! I came here to film the view. What about you?"

The girl went silent. She whirled around suddenly, her features contorted into a sinister grin. Her eyes were a dark blue-grey, exactly like Kaya's. She lunged toward the camera with a knife in her hand – a knife that looked too sharp and too imprecise to be used for anything but violence. The man behind the camera inhaled sharply, as if in pain. "I'm the Seventh King," the girl said in a sickeningly cheerful voice. "The Colorless King! I'm waiting for someone you see." When she stepped back, there was no longer a knife in her hands, and splotches of red stained her white sweater. "And yes – it most certainly  _is_  a lovely evening!"

As the girl began to laugh, the camera was suddenly tilted to the side. It shook violently as it clattered to the floor, and as the girl continued to laugh, all that the camera showed was the city lights through the bars of the metal railing. All Kaya could do was stare at the monitor, unable to move.

She didn't hear Yukari unsheathing his sword, but it didn't come as much of a surprise to see him point a long, thin blade at her.

"Well, Kaya-chan," he said almost mockingly. "I don't appreciate you abusing my former master's title like this."

* * *

It's childish of her, but she wants to physically reach over and wipe the amused half-smile off his face. "It seems your days have been quite eventful as of late, Miss Shimizu," the Gold King says a little too pleasantly.

Right now, it's laughably easy to forget that he is supposed to be the most powerful and influential of all Kings, while she is some nameless, faceless nobody who may have murdered an innocent man and started a war. It's like they're two friends, teasing each other and laughing together like nothing is wrong.

Just thinking about it is enough to make Kaya clamp her mouth shut, squeeze her legs together, and avert her eyes downward. She is still a suspect for murder, she has to remind herself. She still has no name or identity that she can call her own, except for the fake one Kukuri had fabricated for her or that of the murderer herself.

"So the Violet Wolf—" the Gold King starts.

"Don't call him that," Kaya snaps more out of reflex than the usual irritation. "It'll make his head swell up like a balloon. And then it'll explode because it won't  _stop_  swelling."

He nods. "Yukari Mishakuji, then," he says. "I suppose it took some convincing for him to ultimately release you."

"If by 'convincing,' you mean 'Kukuri,' then yeah," Kaya mumbles listlessly.

The Gold King nudges the plate toward her and stares pointedly. He only relaxes when Kaya takes another onigiri and nibbles into it. "Tell me what happened."

* * *

Somehow, impossibly, they ended up back in Kaya's apartment. Kaya stood at the kitchen counter, aggressively packing rice into vaguely onigiri-shaped lumps. Yukari sat at her coffee table, filing his nails delicately. "So let me get this straight," Kaya grumbled. "You're not going to kill me because you're  _bored_."

"Not exactly, Kaya-chan," Yukari replied lightly. "It's not worth killing you at all, actually – but it's also fun watching the Reds scramble. Still, since they're offering a nice reward…" His nails were so impossibly smooth and even that she wondered why he was filing them in the first place.

"And here I thought you actually cared about your old master's title being used for evil," Kaya deadpanned.

Yukari shrugged. He set down the nail file gently on the table and pulled two bottles of nail polish out of one of the pockets on his coat – one white and the other clear. Kaya frowned – it had to be more expensive and of higher quality than the stuff Kukuri used. "It's not like Miwa-chan can do anything about it now."

"That is  _not_  you you're supposed to address a master, of all things."

"Minor technicalities, Kaya-chan."

A knock at the door interrupted their conversation, if Kaya could even call it that. "Can you get that?" she asked somewhat distractedly as she prepared another lump of rice.

A few seconds later, there was the satisfying  _click_  of the door swinging open. "O-Oh…" Kaya heard Kukuri mumble outside. "Sorry to intrude, but I'm looking for…"

Kaya tilted her head outward from the kitchen to look at (the person she believed to be) her cousin. "It's no trouble," she said.

"Hello!" Kukuri greeted her cheerfully. "Did you get the fireworks?"

"They're in there," Kaya answered, pointing to the now crumpled and misshapen paper bag sitting on the coffee table. Miraculously, the fireworks inside remained unharmed.

Kukuri skipped over to the bag, stepping around Yukari, and looked inside. "Perfect! Thanks!" Then she turned around and looked up and met Yukari's eyes. The man who'd threatened to kill Kaya less than an hour ago now leaned lazily against the wall. "Oh, excuse me," Kukuri said. "Are you…?"

Yukari grinned so widely that his (assuredly impossibly) white teeth positively sparkled. "Yukari Mishakuji," he introduced himself. "I'm Kaya-chan's  _friend_."

"Gross," Kaya deadpanned in return.

"Nice to… meet you?" Kukuri tilted her head to the side, and her smile appeared strained. "Um, I'm Kukuri Yukizome! I'm Kaya's cousin."

Yukari lifted his head, and his smile widened ever so slightly. "Is that so?" he asked in a smooth voice. "Well then, Kukuri-chan, can you tell me where Kaya-chan was on the night of December 7, at around 11:45?"

"Cutting right to the chase, aren't we?" Kaya muttered under her breath.

"There will be a very literal chase if you don't have an alibi," he retorted, the perfect smile never leaving his expression.

"Um…" Kukuri said quietly. "An alibi for what?"

"Oh," Yukari said almost dismissively. "Some Reds seem to be under the impression that Kaya-chan murdered one of their own in cold blood."

"M-Murdered?" Kukuri shrieked, jumping back in alarm. "Th-That's crazy! Kaya wouldn't… She was here! How could she have…" She looked from Kaya, to Yukari, then back to Kaya.

Yukari delicately arched one eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Yeah, that's right!" Kukuri interjected. "She was helping us prepare for the festival! And then…" She trailed off suddenly, looking downward and frowning. "When did your train get here again?"

"Hm?" Kaya mumbled. Everything that came before nearly drowning that night was a hazy blur in her mind. "Was it…?"

"You met Mishina-kun that night, didn't you?" Kukuri asked. "So it was probably that afternoon."

"Kaya-chan's from where, exactly?" Yukari quipped, drumming his fingers against his arm.

"Oh, didn't you know?" Kukuri replied, looking up at him. "Kaya's from the countryside. She just transferred here."

"Oh, I see…" he said. "Well, I don't see any reason why I shouldn't believe you, Kukuri-chan."

(Later, Kaya would have to wonder why he believed Kukuri so easily and so effortlessly.)

"You don't?" Kaya almost shrieked.

Yukari raised one thin finger into the air. "However," he said, "your word alone will not be enough to placate the Reds."

"So we've just got to prove that Kaya was here then, right?" Kukuri asked, balling her hands into fists.

"Correct!" Yukari replied entirely too cheerfully.

* * *

"This all sounds very contrived," the Gold King points out uselessly.

"Yeah…" Kaya mumbles so quietly, she has to wonder if she'd said anything at all.

He clears his throat and closes his eyes. "So if I'm following correctly," he says, "this Strain led you, Yukari Mishakuji,  _herself_ , and everyone in the Red and Blue clans to believe this elaborate fabrication. One white lie led to another white lie, until every conceivable gap in your memory was filled with all of these little white lies, giving you a history that does not exist."

His words seem to glide over her, and she can't wrap her head around all of them. "No," Kaya says listlessly. "Not everyone."

"Yes, of course," the Gold King retorts briskly. "The Blue King. Reisi Munakata."

Her eyes start to sting, and she has to look down so that he can't se her lose her already tenuous grip on her composure. "You should consider yourself lucky," the Gold King says gently. "If it were not for the Blue King, then you would never have realized the full extent of your situation."

Kaya nods dully. "Mm."

"I have already heard the Blue King's report on the situation. Now give me yours."

"Mm."

* * *

In the end, everyone Yukari had asked said the same thing: that Kaya had arrived on the afternoon of December 7, and immediately jumped into helping with preparations for the school festival. The three of them sat in a park, one behind the other. Kukuri ran a comb through Yukari's hair, and Yukari busied himself with twisting and twirling Kaya's long hair into an intricate braid. "If everyone's saying the same thing," Kukuri said, "then those Red and Blue guys have to believe it, right?"

Yukari sighed. "It doesn't quite work that way, Kukuri-chan. The Reds can be pretty stubborn when it comes to hurting one of their own."

"But I didn't—" Kaya started.

"Yes, I know," Yukari cut her off, giving her hair a firm tug for emphasis. "But the Reds won't see it that way."

Kukuri sighed. "This sucks." She set the brush down and began running her fingers through Yukari's hair. "Your hair is so  _soft_."

Yukari turned to grin at her. "I can lend you my shampoo and conditioner if you want, Kukuri-chan!" he said cheerfully. "Though it works better on wavier hair… Maybe it'll produce the desired effect on Kaya-chan?"

"Can we focus, please?" Kaya snapped in return.

"What else is there to do?" Yukari asked with a shrug. "If the Reds don't accept the word of every student we talked to—"

"You just said they wouldn't though, Yukari-san," Kukuri pointed out patiently.

"I did," Yukari conceded, "but that doesn't mean we don't have other options. From what I hear, the Blues tend to be  _much_  more reasonable."

Kaya sighed. "Is there anything we can do that  _doesn't_  have to do with Kings and clans and stuff like that?"

Yukari placed the finishing touches on her braid before swinging it over her shoulder. "I'm afraid that's impossible."

Kukuri drew her hands away from Yukari's hair and let them fall on the ground to her sides. "You said you're part of a clan too, right Yukari-san?" she asked.

"I was," he replied. "The Colorless clan. It was just three of us, so I doubt you can even call it a clan – the Colorless King, Miwa Ichigen, myself, and Kuroh-chan. And then Kuroh-chan was taken away, and then Miwa-chan died, so…" His smile faltered ever so slightly as he shrugged.

"I'm sorry…" Kukuri said quietly. "So… you came here because you have nowhere else to go?"

"You said you were bored, too…" Kaya mused.

Yukari shook his head. Without warning, he wrapped one arm around Kukuri and the other around Kaya, and then hanked them close to him so quickly that their heads almost hit each other's. "Well, I can honestly say that things have been  _much_ more entertaining as of late," he said. "And there's still the matter of the new Colorless King. I suppose I should look into that, if only so that Miwa-chan doesn't completely lose it in the grave."

"I think he  _is_  going to lose it in the grave if you keep calling him that," Kaya grumbled.

Yukari delicately raised an eyebrow. "Is that right, Kaya-chan?" As he released Kukuri, he suddenly pulled Kaya under his arm and began using his now free hand to vigorously pat her head.

"H-Hey!" she shrieked as she squirmed in his grasp, struggling to get away. "Stop that! You worked so hard on my hair, and now you're ruining it!"

"I can always do it again later, Kaya-chan," he replied lightly.

The sound of a pop tune cut them off, and Yukari reluctantly released her. With so many strands of hair now out of place, Kaya slowly undid the braid. "Sorry," Kukuri said as she pulled her PDA from a pocket in her school bag. "One minute." She pressed a button on the screen and held it up to her ear. "Hi Mom!"

"Speaking of which," Yukari said much more quietly, "don't you think it's time you called your parents in the countryside?"

"Oh, right," Kaya whispered back. "But my PDA's not here yet."

"I'm with Kaya right now," Kukuri said on the phone. " _Kaya_ , Mom. You know, from…"

"Then after Kukuri-chan's done," Yukari said."

"What are you, my mom?" Kaya grumbled.

"What're you…?" Kukuri said on the phone. "No, she's not—I mean, yeah, she's my  _friend_ , but…"

"Don't you have people you need to call too?" Kaya shot back. "Like that Kuroh guy—"

"Let's leave Kuroh-chan out of this, Kaya-chan."

"Mom, how could you forget your own niece?" Kukuri almost yelled.

Kaya and Yukari fell silent. Kukuri's eyes went wide as she looked to Kaya, then to Yukari, and then back to Kaya. "Kukuri…?" Kaya said slowly.

"N-No!" Kukuri shrieked suddenly, jumping back, and Kaya couldn't tell if she was screaming at her mother on the phone, or at her. "That's not true! Kaya's… she was…" Kukuri looked to Kaya for a long moment. For the first time, there was no recognition in her eyes, as if she was staring at a complete stranger.

And then, a spark of pain suddenly shot up through Kaya's stomach. The ground felt shaky, unstable under her feet, and dark spots bloomed across her vision. She squeezed her eyes shut and forced herself to breathe deeply. She was Kaya Shimizu, Kukuri's cousin from the countryside. She'd just transferred to Ashinaka High, and spent most of her first day in the city preparing for her new school's festival.

Slowly, her stomach began to settle. When she could finally bring herself to open her eyes again, Kukuri was still looking at her with that strange, distant look in her eyes, and Yukari was frowning at her with the same brand of contempt and suspicion that he'd first regarded her with. "Glad you're back with us, Kaya-chan" he said a little stiltedly.

"W-Wait…" Kukuri said shakily. "I'm sure this is all just a huge misunderstanding—"

"'Misunderstanding' is putting it lightly, Kukuri-chan," Yukari said sharply. He was no longer smiling now, and there was none of the levity in his tone that there was before. "Kaya-chan, perhaps you can explain this?"

"Explain what…?" Kaya said quietly.

"Why Kukuri-chan's poor, confused mother seems to be under the impression that there are no relatives in the countryside with daughters Kukuri-chan's age, who could have conceivably transferred to the same high school within the past week," Yukari retorted. "Kaya-chan, if you've been deceiving us—"

"Stop it!" Kukuri interjected suddenly. "She's not… Kaya's not…"

But Yukari held one arm out in front of her, almost protectively. "Stay out of this, Kukuri-chan. If I'm following correctly, then we have no way of knowing for sure who or what is standing before us now."

"This is crazy!" Kaya shouted. "I'm not… I'll prove it!" The image of a boy with shorter silver hair and a carefree smile floated to the forefront of her mind. It was insane of her, she realized even then – if anything, they'd think he was her accomplice. "My little brother, he'll… He'll vouch for me! I'm sure of it!"

With the same contemptuous frown, Yukari reached into one of the pockets on his coat, pulled out a cell phone, and tossed it to Kaya. The correct numbers came to mind easily, and she entered a phone number as quickly as her fingers would allow. Her brother would answer, with a laugh and a carefree smile that she wouldn't be able to see, a teasing "and you're always telling  _me_  to get it together, Sis" – she was sure of it.

(Later, in hindsight, she'd see just how shortsighted and ineffective this would be.)

"The number you have dialed is out of service."

Kaya froze, and the phone slipped out of her hand, clattering to the ground.

"Well, Kaya-chan," Yukari said again. "It looks like you have some explaining to do."

"I…" Everything blurred out of focus, and Kaya's stomach clenched unpleasantly, just as it did before. She was Kaya Shimizu, Kukuri's cousin from the countryside – but as that prospect slipped further and further out of reach, she began to feel even more ill. "I…"

"Freeze!"

The three looked up at once. Standing before them in one neat, orderly line were five men and one woman, all clad in blue. It was the woman who'd spoken, and she stood slightly in front of the rest of the men, somehow commanding authority despite her much shorter stature.

"Lieutenant Awashima," said the person closest to her, a tall man with some of his dark hair pulled back into a bun. "Which one do you think is the Strain?"

"Strain…?" Yukari echoed. He looked down to Kaya, then to Kukuri, and he smiled much like he did the first time he confronted Kaya. "Oh, I see…"

"And the girl from the video!" said a man with brown hair, jumping out of formation and pointing wildly at Kaya.

"We're only here for the Strain," the woman Awashima said calmly. "Leave the girl be – I believe HOMRA has its sights on her as it is."

"So the girl from the video and the Strain you're referring to are two entirely different people," Yukari said in that irritatingly smooth voice of his as his grin widened. "It looks like this will be a far more entertaining endeavor than I originally anticipated."

"Y-You guys have it all wrong!" Kukuri shouted. She frowned determinedly as she locked eyes with everyone in a blue uniform, her gaze lingering for a longer moment on the woman. "I'm just a student! I'm a second year at Ashinaka High! All this stuff about Kings and murders and stuff… We have nothing to do with it, so just leave us alone!"

The brown-haired man staggered backward with a pained grunt. "W-Well it certainly  _sounds_  reasonable—"

"Focus, Domyouji," Awashima said sharply.

"Wh-What?" the man Domyouji spluttered. He grimaced – and Kaya was half sure that there was a stomachache there much like her own just moments ago, when he quickly threw his arm around his stomach. "That was… What did she just  _do_?"

The man to his right, someone shorter and thinner, with pale skin and glasses, sighed and clicked his tongue irritably. "Idiot… didn't you read the dispatch report?"

"Kaya-chan, I understand," Yukari mused. "But Kukuri-chan as well…"

"We have nothing to do with anything, so just leave us alone!" Kukuri shouted, staring pointedly at the woman.

But Awashima didn't budge, and her cold expression didn't falter even once. "Miss Yukizome, you will come with us. This will be a painless process if you don't resist."

Kukuri looked back desperately to Kaya and Yukari. Yukari had one hand covering his mouth, his shoulders trembling slightly as he struggled to suppress chuckles. Kaya remained rooted on the spot, unable to move or breathe or do anything but watch the events unfold before her. She didn't feel quite so ill anymore, thinking about how Kukuri could possibly be  _wrong_.

"Fushimi!" Awashima called.

The pale-skinned man with glasses nodded. "I'm on it." He reached into his pocket and pulled out what looked like a PDA and pressed a button on it.

And then, Kaya fell to her knees. Beside her, Yukari staggered briefly, but quickly righted himself. Kukuri went still, her eyes widening. In her mind, there was nothing – nothing from the countryside from where Kukuri said she came, nothing about parents, nothing about a younger brother, nothing about the life she supposedly once led, nothing about even the train she supposedly traveled on to reach the city.

(There was nothing. She was nothing.)

Yukari was the first to recover. He tilted his head upward and covered his eyes with one gloved hand. This time, he didn't even bother trying to hide his laughter. "Well, I can't say I was expecting  _this_!"

Kukuri blinked slowly. "I…" she said slowly. "What was I…?"

Awashima's expression softened as she extended her hand out toward Kukuri. "I'm sorry for being so harsh earlier," she said gently. "You must be awfully confused. If you come with us, we'll explain everything."

Kaya could only watch as Kukuri nodded, helpless, and followed the people in blue.

"But Lieutenant," Domyouji interjected. "What about…?"

Awashima's expression turned cold once more. "Leave her," she said. "Now that the Strain is no longer involved, it's only a matter of time before HOMRA finds her. She's as good as dead." As quickly as they'd come, the people clad in blue began to leave, Kukuri in tow.

Kaya couldn't say she was surprised when Yukari's glowing purple sword landed on her shoulder once more. She bowed her head, unable to find her voice as every ounce of strength she had before – strength she'd somehow taken from Kukuri, she now realized – vanished. "Not going to fight back this time, Kaya-chan?"

She raised her head slowly, and met Yukari's eyes. He was no longer frowning at her, but there was still some contempt there – enough for it to sting, but she couldn't bring herself to get angry like she did so many times before.

Yukari sighed and slipped his sword back into his sheath. "Then it's no fun," he said with a small pout. "Besides, it's like the Blues said – Colorless King or not, you're as good as dead anyway."

When Yukari turned on his heel and walked away, Kaya didn't have the energy to stop him. He was right – they were all right. She was as good as dead. 'Kaya Shimizu' didn't exist at all – there was only the Colorless King, who shared her face.

And then, in the endless haze in her mind, a name surfaced – Lieutenant Daikaku Kokujouji. There was no face to put to that name, nor were there any memories that told her why she knew that name, why she could somehow remember that name but not her own.

_He might have the answers._

Slowly, reluctantly, she picked herself up and started walking.

* * *

"And so you came here," the Gold King says.

Kaya sighs and nods. "And so I came here," she repeats quietly.

"That's quite a story, Miss Shimizu."

She wraps her arms around herself and looks down. "I… It's all I have…"

The Gold King frowns slightly. "Though how you found this tower…"

"Yukari mentioned it," Kaya explains. "When he was telling us about all the Kings and clans and stuff."

He bows his head slightly. "I see…"

An uncomfortable silence lapses between them. If Kukuri were here, Kaya thinks, she'd fill the silence with idle chatter, stories of the student council, of the school, of people Kaya had only met peripherally. If Yukari were here, Kaya thinks, he'd tease her and she'd tease him back, and then maybe he'll braid her hair like he did before, once everything settles down.

It's a strange prospect to consider, that the people that matter the most in her life now are people who shouldn't be in it at all.

"So," the Gold King says as he clasps his hands together. "What are you going to do?"

Kaya averts her eyes downward. "They said I was as good as dead anyway…"

He frowns. "So you will just lay down and die? Because if there is one thing your story has made clear, it's that as likely as it is that you are the Colorless King who murdered Totsuka Tatara, it's equally likely that you're not. It's  _more_  likely that you're not, in fact, because your behavior doesn't quite match up with what was displayed on the video."

"Does it matter?" Kaya whispers, mostly to herself.

For the first time, the Gold King looks angry as he rises gracefully – too gracefully for such an old man – to his feet. Kaya digs her nails into the palms of her hands. "You told me that you came here for answers, and now you choose to just throw your life away—"

"What life?" she shoots back. "It doesn't exist! There's nothing to throw away in the first place!"

"If you truly believe that—"

"Didn't you listen to a single thing I said?"

A knock at the door cuts their argument short. The Gold sighs harshly and sinks back into his chair. "Enter."

The door swings open, and a man wearing a mask that looks like a rabbit's face steps in. "Sir," he says. "A Strain has intruded the tower."

"Very well," the Gold King says tiredly. "Dispatch the—"

"Accompanying the Strain is Violet Wolf Yukari Mishakuji."

Kaya startles, jerking her head upward. "They're here…?" she asks faintly.

The Gold King smiles. "Ah, disregard my previous statement," he says. "Let them pass. In fact, escort them here."

The man in the rabbit mask nods. "Yes, sir."

The Gold King continues to smile as he turns his attention back to Kaya. "You were saying, Miss Shimizu?"

Kaya glares at him. "Yeah, yeah," she mutters irritably.

"For there to be no meaning to your life, then your friends wouldn't be—"

"All right, you don't have to rub it in!" Kaya sighs. "That might not even be why they're here."

His eyes soften. "Why else would they be here?"

And then, the door swings open once more, but with no knock preceding it. Kaya doesn't need to look to know that it's Yukari and Kukuri standing there. "Welcome," the Gold King says. "We were just discussing you."

"All good things, I hope?" Yukari says in that smooth, velvety voice of his.

"About Miss Yukizome," the Gold King replies dryly. Kaya snorts in laughter, and then quickly turns it into a cough.

"Listen," Kukuri says, clasping her hands tightly together and looking downward. The girl that stands at the door is nothing like the kind, cheerful, friendly cousin Kaya knew just a short while before – she's little more than a stranger now. "Scepter 4… those guys in the blue coats taught me how to undo my powers."

"Didn't they already do that?" Kaya asks dully, resting her head on the palm of her hand and looking downward.

"No, they just… temporarily got rid of its effects?" Kukuri answered. "But only I can actually take it off people, if that makes sense. Permanently, I mean." She wrings her hands together nervously and doesn't move from her spot near the door.

"We did most of the work ourselves in evading Kukuri-chan's illusions," Yukari elaborates. Unlike Kukuri, he walks boldly into the room and leans lazily against Kaya's chair. "Once you get the idea that something is wrong, it's hard to let that idea go."

"So…" Kukuri says slowly as she follows Yukari and steps into the room. She takes Kaya's hands in both of hers and leans in close, staring directly into her eyes.

This time, it isn't so much like something is being pulled from her eyes than it is like someone has suddenly yanked the ground out from under her. Before Kaya can process what's happening, dozens of images float through her mind – papers strewn across a table with concepts she doesn't completely understand, a computer containing data meticulously collected over decades, a window overlooking the entire city – and then, a woman with pale yellow, almost white hair whipping about her, looking down with a twisted smile as she holds Kaya's hands in both of hers and  _lets go_ —

Kaya inhales so sharply, it sends her into a coughing fit. "A-Are you okay?" Kukuri asks.

Everything spins momentarily, and she has to grab Yukari's sleeve to steady herself. The Gold King looks to her, his eyes narrowed. "What did you see?" he asks.

"I…" Kaya swallows and inhales deeply, closing her eyes. She's still holding Yukari's sleeve – and he'll no doubt tease her relentlessly for this later, but for now he's silent and that's more than enough. "There was an airship," she whispers. "The woman there, she… She  _pushed_ me, and I…"

Kukuri gives her a small, strained smile. "That's how you almost drowned, isn't it?"

Kaya nods. "There was also a lot of stuff about… Weismann levels and Swords of Damocles, and what happens when those swords  _fall_ , but… I'm sure it'll make sense later, but…"

"Don't think too hard on it now, Kaya-chan," Yukari says surprisingly gently. "It'll come back to you later." He wrenches his arm out of her grasp and pats her on the shoulder twice for good measure. "Though what you said about the woman on the airship—"

"Claudia," the Gold King suddenly cuts him off. He's looking at Kaya now with a strange expression – nothing like the amused smiles and cold, calculated frowns he gave her before. It's only now that it occurs to her that something, besides her situation with the Red clan and Kukuri's with the Blue clan, might be wrong.

Yukari turns, giving the Gold King a smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes. "Pardon?"

"Claudia," the Gold King repeats. "Silver King Claudia Weismann."

Yukari whistles. "So the Silver King's our opponent, huh?"

"Who said anything about 'opponent'?" Kaya quips.

"She pushed you  _out of an airship_ —"

"Minor technicalities, Yukari."

"It's pointless," the Gold King says quietly, solemnly. "Something has happened to the Silver King – something that has broken the pattern. The person you will meet on that airship could very well be—"

"Not Claudia-chan," Yukari finishes. "Or at least, not Claudia-chan in her right mind."

"Are you seriously—" Kaya splutters. "You haven't even met her yet and you're already calling her—"

The Gold King reaches for his PDA and dials a number. "Munakata-san," he says briskly a few seconds later, "Mihashira Tower would like to request your permission to commandeer one of Scepter 4's aircrafts." He pauses. "Yes, understood. Thank you." He presses a button on the PDA and then sets the device down. "You have half an hour," he tells Kaya. "You'll find a group of small helicopters in Scepter 4's headquarters. Until you are finished with this mission, you are officially under the Gold clan's protection."

There's no conceivable reason why the Gold King should be giving them this chance – and Kaya crushes that train of thought before she can dwell on it further. "Kukuri," she says instead. "Can you take us there?"

"Yeah, of course!" Kukuri answers eagerly.

"I guess I'll tag along too," Yukari says lightly. "I'm fairly certain I'm the only one among the three of us who actually knows how to pilot a helicopter."

"Did you learn that stuff from your old master, Yukari-san?" Kukuri asks.

"Miwa-chan said we needed to be prepared for  _anything_ ," Yukari says, smiling.

"There you go again, calling everyone that…" Kaya grumbles.

She turns back one to look at Daikaku Kokujouji once more. He sits with his hands clasped firmly in his lap, his eyes averted downward. For the first time, all she can see in him is uncertainty. "Thank you, Lieutenant," she says. She can't say why she felt the need to call him that. "Don't worry. We'll figure out what's going on with the Silver King."

He exhales slowly, and then smiles. "One way or another," he says, "I'm confident that Claudia and I will be reunited very, very soon."

**Author's Note:**

> A note on Kukuri: in order for her to use her power, to convince people she talks to that her words are the absolute truth, there are two conditions that she must fulfill – she must look them directly in the eye, and she must speak confidently and phrase her words as if they are facts, rather than opinions. Those subjected to Kukuri's power can only break free and believe facts contrary to what she states with great difficulty, characterized by a sickly sort of unease or stomach pain depending on the individual, but this depends on how sure Kukuri is of her own words.


End file.
